Many homeowners want to know what a Virginia refinance costs at the courthouse. They are concerned that an unexpected tax may shape their Virginia home loan review. This guide explains what lenders may look for so you can move forward with confidence.
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How Much Is the Recordation Tax on a Virginia Refinance?
SHORT ANSWER
A Virginia refinance is taxed at $0.18 per $100 of the new loan amount, not the $0.25 a purchase pays. The discount applies when tax was already paid on the loan being refinanced. A refinance also skips the seller’s grantor’s tax and the regional fees charged on a home sale. Smart Loan Savings Educational Content
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| Virginia Refinance Tax Factor | Virginia Rate or Rule |
|---|---|
| Virginia refinance recordation tax rate | $0.18 per $100 |
| Virginia purchase mortgage tax rate | $0.25 per $100 |
| Seller’s transfer tax on a Virginia refinance | None |
| Regional fees on a Virginia refinance | None |
| Northern Virginia regional fees on a sale | $0.20 per $100 |
| Hampton Roads regional fee on a sale | $0.06 per $100 |
| Regional fees elsewhere in Virginia | None |
| Who owes the Virginia regional fees by law | The seller |
| Virginia tax on assuming an existing loan | None |
| Deadline to convert a Virginia construction loan | 3 years |
| Virginia tax when a construction loan grows at conversion | Only on the increase |
| Virginia tax to clear a paid-off loan from the record | 50 cents |
| Virginia clerk fee per recorded document | $3 |
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| Virginia Refinance Tax Deep Dive | Underwriting Impact on Your Virginia Home Loan Profile |
|---|---|
| Refinancing Costs Less to Record Than Buying | Virginia charges less to record a refinance than a purchase. Virginia records your mortgage as a deed of trust. A purchase deed of trust is taxed at $0.25 per $100 of the loan amount. A refinance of an existing debt is taxed at $0.18 per $100. On a $400,000 refinance that is $720 instead of $1,000. The discount applies only when recordation tax was already paid on the loan being replaced. What Is a Mortgage Refinance? covers how the transaction works. This page covers only the Virginia tax piece. |
| What a Refinance Does Not Trigger | The bigger saving is what a refinance does not trigger. Virginia’s grantor’s tax is the seller’s transfer tax. The grantor’s tax applies to a deed, which is the document that hands the home to a new owner. The regional fees work the same way. A refinance hands the home to nobody. You already own it. No deed is recorded. No grantor’s tax is owed. The regional fees do not apply. Only the loan document gets recorded and taxed. |
| Where the Property Sits Changes the Bill | Where the property sits decides whether regional fees apply at all. A sale in a Northern Virginia Transportation Authority locality carries 2 separate fees. Each runs $0.10 per $100, for a combined $0.20. A sale in a Hampton Roads transportation district carries $0.06 per $100. Everywhere else in Virginia, the answer is zero. On a $500,000 Northern Virginia sale that is $1,000 the seller owes and a Roanoke seller does not. All 3 fees fall on the seller by law. The parties may agree to shift them. The Virginia Mortgage Guide covers the other local factors that shape a home loan file in the state. |
| Taking Over a Loan Costs Nothing to Record | Taking over someone else’s loan costs nothing at the courthouse. Virginia does not separately tax the assumption of a loan document. That holds whether the assumption is written as its own document or folded into the deed that transfers the home. On an assumable mortgage, a Virginia buyer skips the recordation tax entirely. FHA, VA and USDA loans are generally assumable. On a $400,000 loan that is $1,000 avoided. |
| The Three-Year Construction Deadline | Building a home in Virginia comes with a deadline. A construction loan document is taxed at the standard rate when recorded. The permanent loan that replaces it is not taxed again, on 3 conditions. The permanent loan document has to be recorded within 3 years of the construction one. The same people have to be on it. The tax on the construction loan document has to have been paid. A permanent loan recorded after that 3-year window is taxed in full. Borrow more at conversion and the tax applies to the increase. |
| The Paperwork That Earns the Lower Rate | The refinance discount is not automatic. To get the lower rate, the new loan document has to identify the earlier recorded loan on which tax for the original debt was paid. The reference goes in by deed book and page, or by document number. Leave that reference off and the clerk charges the full purchase rate. That is a $280 difference on a $400,000 refinance, created by a missing line on a form. |
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| What Lenders Check | How Virginia Recordation Rules Affect Your Loan File |
|---|---|
| Your Cash to Close on a Refinance | The recordation tax is part of the money you bring to a refinance closing. A refinance is taxed at $0.18 per $100 instead of $0.25. No seller’s transfer tax or regional fee is added on top. |
| Where the Property Sits | Regional fees apply only in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Those fees apply only on a sale, not on a refinance. Two similar homes on opposite sides of a district line carry different closing costs. |
| Assumption Instead of a New Loan | A buyer assuming an existing loan pays no recordation tax on a new loan document. That changes the cash figure on the file. Assumption is worth raising early if the seller’s loan is assumable. |
| Construction Loan Timing | A permanent loan recorded more than 3 years after the construction loan loses its exemption. The full tax applies at that point. On a long build, the conversion date carries a real cost. |
| The Small Fixed Charges | Recording the document that clears a paid-off loan costs 50 cents. Every recorded document also carries a $3 clerk fee. Both are small figures. Both belong in the closing estimate rather than turning up as a surprise. |
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| People Also Ask | Why These Questions Matter |
|---|---|
| Do you pay grantor’s tax on a Virginia refinance? | Virginia’s grantor’s tax is the seller’s transfer tax, and it applies to a deed that hands property to a new owner. A refinance hands the property to nobody, so it records only a new loan document, taxed at $0.18 per $100 rather than the $0.25 a purchase pays. |
| What are the Northern Virginia regional transfer fees? | A sale in a Northern Virginia Transportation Authority locality carries a regional WMATA capital fee and a regional congestion relief fee, each at $0.10 per $100. Together they add $0.20 per $100 to what the seller owes, and both fall on the seller by law. |
| Does Virginia tax assuming someone else’s mortgage? | Virginia does not separately tax the assumption of an existing loan, whether it is written as its own document or folded into the deed that transfers the home. A buyer assuming a loan skips the recordation tax, which runs $0.25 per $100 on a new loan. |
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| Sources Used on This Page |
| Code of Virginia, Title 58.1, Chapter 8, State Recordation Tax — § 58.1-802.3 regional WMATA capital fee | § 58.1-802.4 regional congestion relief fee | § 58.1-802.5 regional transportation improvement fee | § 58.1-803 deed of trust rate schedules, including the refinance schedule | § 58.1-804 construction loan conversion | § 58.1-805 deeds of release | § 58.1-809 assumptions and supplemental writings | § 58.1-811 exemptions | § 58.1-812 collection and allocation between parties | § 58.1-817 clerk fee |
| Disclaimer |
| Virginia recordation taxes and regional fees are set by state law and by the districts those fees apply to, and are subject to change. Which localities fall inside a fee district can change as districts are redefined. Who pays each item is set by your contract. This page is provided for educational purposes only. Smart Loan Savings Educational Content |